GOMA — The M23/AFC rebel coalition has officially outlined its demands for the ongoing peace talks in Doha, calling on President Félix Tshisekedi to formally recognize the process and appoint a properly mandated delegation.
Speaking during a press briefing in Goma on Thursday, the group warned that Kinshasa’s current approach—sending representatives without clear authority—risks stalling or even derailing the fragile peace process.
“The President must recognize what is happening in Doha and send people there mandated by the Republic—not those currently going without a mandate,” the group stated.
Benjamin Mbonimpa, Executive Secretary of AFC/M23 and head of the delegation in Doha, detailed what he called ten acts of good faith taken by the movement to support dialogue and de-escalation, including:
Declaring multiple unilateral ceasefires since 2021, with no matching initiative from Kinshasa except under international pressure;
- Voluntarily repositioning forces from Walikale in February 2025 after government attacks;
- Participating actively in Doha talks despite public denouncements from Kinshasa officials;
- Signing a joint communiqué with the government on April 23, 2025;
Transferring 1,359 prisoners of war, including FARDC soldiers, police, and their families, to Kinshasa with MONUSCO and ICRC assistance.
Despite these actions, the group says Kinshasa continues to act in bad faith—labeling them terrorists, criminalizing their movement, and refusing to formally acknowledge the Doha negotiations.
In response, M23/AFC outlined eight confidence-building measures it says are necessary to move the process forward:
- Repealing the parliamentary law that prohibits negotiations with M23/AFC;
- Lifting arrest warrants and prosecutions against its leaders;
- Releasing individuals arrested for family or social ties to M23;
- Reopening banks in liberated areas;
- Ending hate speech and ethnic profiling, especially against Rwandophone Congolese;
- Allowing free movement and access to identity documents for Kinyarwanda-speaking citizens; Respecting the ceasefire;
- Formally recognizing the Doha process and sending authorized negotiators.
Additionally, the movement stressed that dismantling the FDLR and other government-backed militias is non-negotiable.
These groups, it claims, continue to carry out attacks targeting civilians in the Kivus with the indirect support of Kinshasa. M23/AFC accuses the government of using these proxy forces to bypass the ceasefire while presenting a façade of peace.
“The presence of FDLR and similar militias undermines every attempt at peace,” Mbonimpa said. “You cannot claim to want dialogue while enabling armed groups that kill and displace our people.”
This marks the first time the group has publicly and officially presented its conditions for the Doha process in such a detailed format.
It follows months of rising tension, even as Rwanda and the DRC signed a separate U.S.-mediated ceasefire deal in Washington.